Looking at the Skyline High School varsity volleyball roster, something is conspicuously missing under the “year” column. Nowhere on the list will you find the number 12. It’s a number no athletic programs at the third-year school has the luxury of listing.

The Eagles, led for the third year by high school coaching veteran Janet Hinz, played a few varsity teams last season, but this is the first year for the school as a full-fledged varsity program. That means postseason play and an official spot in the Southeastern Conference Red Division standings.

“We’re lucky in one respect, in that our team isn’t watered down,” Hinz says, referring to not having to integrate a few new players into an existing team. Her varsity players, for the most part, have been playing together now for three years.

There are some freshmen and sophomores mixed in with the juniors. And while this experience for the younger players will pay off in future years, the Eagles might experience some growing pains this season. It’s all part of the learning curve.

“I anticipate we might take some lumps this season,” Hinz said. “My hope is they gain knowledge and experience if we have those situations. We want to keep growing as volleyball players and as a team, both in our team unity and our confidence.”

Hinz is no stranger to high school volleyball in the area, having coached Pinckney’s varsity team for 15 years before taking a few years off prior to coming to Skyline. Rebounding from a down year with an existing varsity team is nothing, Hinz says, compared to the challenges of building a program from scratch.

“It’s a lot different. We really had to teach them everything, players and parents included,” Hinz said. “Normally you’ve got parents from last year that can help the newer parents with things like how to pack for tournaments. The players don’t have peers that went through it before to lean on during the season.

“We’re all learning together, but we’ve got kids that are eager and great parental support.”

The Eagles, who went 37-17-4 as a junior varsity team last year, will come into a strong league with a veteran Pioneer team and perennially-strong Temperance Bedford along with the rest of the SEC Red. It’s likely asking too much to challenge for a league title right out of the gate, but Hinz said her team has set a goal to win half of their games and set a foundation for the future.

“I don’t think it’s totally set in for the girls yet that they’re the first,” Hinz said of the inaugural season. “But I think when the look back at graduation, and really when they come back in future years they’ll be able to say ‘I was there at the beginning.’”